Today's Pokémon Direct has revealed that Pokémon Sword and Shield will both be receiving an Expansion Pass, providing lots more content to players who already own the base game(s).

Rather than launching a third version or 'Ultra' versions as we've seen in the past, Sword and Shield players will be able to jump right into these new adventures with the same save data they have been using in the base games. The Expansion is actually split into two parts, and they both look and sound pretty amazing to us:

The Isle of ArmorIn this expansion, Trainers will head to the Isle of Armor, the stage of a new adventure in the Galar region. The Isle of Armor is a giant island full of environments not seen in Galar before. There players will find wave-swept beaches, forests, bogs, caves, and sand dunes. There are also plenty of Pokémon that make this island their home, living freely amid the lush natural surroundings. There’s even a dojo here that specializes in some very particular training styles. Trainers and their Pokémon will take up an apprenticeship under the master of this dojo and train hard to become even stronger.

The Crown TundraThis expansion is set in the snow-swept realm of the Crown Tundra. The Crown Tundra features a beautiful shining, silvery landscape. In this frigid area, with its jagged winter mountains, people live in small communities where they support and rely on one another. A certain person will appoint the player as the leader of their exploration team in the Crown Tundra, where Trainers will be tasked with investigating the reaches of this frozen land. Here, Trainers will be able to explore the full depth of Pokémon Dens, which they’ve so far only been able to glimpse in Max Raid Battles.

The new areas will contain Pokémon not previously obtainable in Sword and Shield - both old and new. If you don't want to buy the Expansion Pass, you'll still be able to obtain these new Pokémon thanks to a free update which will be launching alongside the Pass. This update will allow you to trade with a friend who has caught the new Pokémon.

The Expansion is also set to bring new outfits, new characters - including a man named Mustard who will be responsible for the player's training and two new rivals called Klara and Avery - and new features, too. There are even new items and new Dens to explore which will contain Legendary Pokémon from past games.

The passes will be available to purchase directly from the Nintendo eShop later today, with pricing set at £26.99 / $29.99 per version. The Isle of Armor is scheduled for release by the end of June 2020, while The Crown Tundra is planned for fall 2020. A smaller update will go live later today (for free) that gives players a small slice of what to expect in the full expansion.

Blimey, we weren't quite expecting all of that. As always, make sure to share your thoughts on this in the comments below!

Ryan can list the first 151 Pokémon all in order off by heart – a feat he calls his ‘party trick’ despite being such an introvert that he’d never be found anywhere near a party. He’d much rather just have a night in with Mario Kart and a pizza, and we can’t say we blame him.

National Dex pokemon and postgame content are now put behind a thirty dollar paywall, and people are going to pony up the money for a part of the game that was always part of the base game before. This is the new EA.

That was...kinda wild and unexpected. I will say this. The optics to this aren't that great looking. But to GFs credit, they are at least allowing those who don't buy the expansion packs to have access to those additional Pokémon.

So the reason they prevented the rest of the Pokémon from being available on the main game was for DLC. Not because of “balancing” and other BS reasons. Even then they’re only going to add about 200 Pokémon.

Irritated. I understand the decision. I get it that the game sold well and there is opportunity there. I didn't enjoy Sword and Shield but gave the benefit of the doubt because they are getting used to new hardware. But to put content that longtime fans are used to getting for free (all pokemon/ national dex debacle) and locking areas behind a paywall seems like a stupid move that is going to divide the fanbase even further. Yes, it's still Pokemon. Yes, people will still pay for it. You could even make a case that this will make the next game better due to the extra work they are putting in. But, how many times can you give them the benefit of the doubt. For a game with trees that look dreadful and pretty average graphics across the board, paid DLC is tough to take

I am as big a Pokémon fan as they come, but the only way they can redeem themselves at this point is if they issue a complete physical package with all of the content on the cartridge by the end of the year. I don't begrudge others from wanting a cheaper downloadable alternative, but there ought to be traditional physical releases as well.

In one fell swoop, they have destroyed 20+ years of goodwill.

I have been buying both versions since the DS era, and in the case of Sword/Shield, the double pack, as well as an extra copy of Shield for my sister.

You don't get to sell us what amounts to the same game twice and pull this crap on us. That's approximately AU$45 per pass (in comparison, past physical releases of Pokémon games were typically AU$50-60 at launch, and they were complete games!) And the Direct said that the passes cost US$29.95 each. The other version should damn well cost nothing more, especially as it is not a physical product, and the difference between the two passes are negligible.

People don’t know how to pay attention. These 200 Pokémon are NOT being hidden behind a paywall, they are coming in a free update. You can catch them in the expanded areas or transfer them from Pokémon Home. Same as much of the National Pokédex in any gen.

Nice! If at the end of this year, I can get the whole experience at once, I´ll dive into this generation. I didn´t buy them yet, I think I did right, I didn´t want to play (and pay) just a part of the whole game...

Plus, those new "Wild Areas" look awesome. This is what I expected from the base game.

I don't mind the idea of DLC in itself but them being set on a area similar to the wild area is a major bummer, still sorta excited to give it a shot though but I doubt the "campaign" portion of the DLC will be longer than a few hours sadly.

Exactly, just like the mass hysteria about the Pokemon sword and shield games in the first place, then it turns out it's not actually mass hysteria as it's only a few whining people on the internet, and the rest of the mass buying Pokemon fans buy the games and enjoy them, just like the masses will love all these new announcements and the extra DLC packs, of course the whingers will then retreat with the whole tried and tested line, that all the mass market Pokemon buyers are stupid and do not realize they are buying rubbish, just so they can feel good when clearly everybody else is having a great time, and of course the sales figures do not back up their lame arguments.

The core Pokemon fans are sooooo predictable, but always a great source of entertainment on internet forums.

I haven't had the time to properly look at this content, but this absolutely stinks of rushing the game to release for the holiday period, and then waiting until that period to drop the news about adding in sorely lacking content.

@AlexSora89 I highly doubt that this DLC wasn’t being worked on alongside the games themselves. This was always part of the plan and isn’t there entire Pokedex anyways. They held back 200 Pokémon to release alongside their DLC. But you can fit it to your narrative if you want. I’m sure a lot of people will.

Yeah I dunno. I really liked my time with Sword and Shield until I got to the end and realized there was a complete lack of content. We paid $60 for a game that had less content than a $40 Pokémon game, and now that it's been out for 2 months they're telling us we can pay for the rest of it? I just don't know

Why is everyone complaining? Yes the DLC might be a bit overpriced for someone who isn’t a massive fan like me, but Game Freak heard the complaints about Dexit and are now fixing it. And if they were to add new/old Pokémon, it was always going to be through paid DLC; Game Freak aren’t a charity. They’re not going to be giving away hundreds of Pokémon for free! Stop complaining and be happy you actually got your way!

You have won nothing, and in case you are unaware I will spell it out for you, GameFreak do not care about what amounts to a few wingers on the internet, the mass market these games are actually aimed at will love this DLC just like the Pokemon Sword and Shield games themselves, and the moaners will complain time and time again, not realizing that it makes no difference, they would be much better off moving on and not buying a game designed for children that they personally hate.

Everyone here is overreacting. Instead of forcing us to dole out another 60 for a 'third entry 'that wouldn't add much new gf is instead releasing the '3rd entry' to gen 8 as 30 dollar dlc. This is great news and exactly the opposite of what EA would ever do with any of their franchises. Can't believe some people are comparing gf to them.

I'm genuinely disgusted by this. The game is extremely barebones, and now you have to pay extra for what is essentially the rest of the game. I wasn't the biggest Pokemon fan, but any goodwill for the franchise is well and truly gone now.

@Franz The following is from the article, "If you don't want to buy the Expansion Pass, you'll still be able to obtain these new Pokémon thanks to a free update which will be launching alongside the Pass."
You and a few more commenting here should actually try reading articles before straight up lying about the additional Pokémon being paid DLC.

So that's 60 bucks per game, plus 30 bucks for the expansion pass, one for each game. 180 bucks for the full experience.

And STILL not every Pokémon is in there.

Hahahahaha GameFreak. If I ever still wanted to get Pokémon Sword/Shield, now I definitely do not want them ever. Give them to me for free, and maybe I'll want them. Otherwise, no. I'm absolutely done with mainline Pokémon games.

200+ Pokemon in each expansion or total? Is the expansion pass $30 usd each or $30 usd total?

Well I don't have the game so yea, but it's Kool to just add expansion passes to the game as DLC . Maybe the dlc will add some more stuff to the base game, aside from new locations and pokemon, like maybe updates in animation, or character interactions, designs, etc. (cause the 3rd games usually do that).

Don't buy it then, nobody is forcing anybody to buy a game that they do not like, it's a personal choice, if these games and their DLC does not cater to all your entitled whims, than boycott it, I know I would.

"The new areas will contain Pokémon not previously obtainable in Sword and Shield - both old and new."

And it begins. How many people called it and were said to be trolls and haters? They cut massive amounts of content only to sell it back as dlc on games that already had a 50% price increase and locked online behind a paywall. The message was sent loud and clear to gamefreak. the pokemon fanbase will literally pay for anything and no amount of exploitation is too great. Here's your reward for defending gamefreak's laziness and attacking everyone who dared to criticize.

@Silly_G Just to clarify. The pass is $29.99 for whatever game you choose. Purchasing the singular pass, you get both expansions included. That's at least what I took from it. Or did I completely misunderstand and miss something?

@LegendOfPokemon Do you work for free? I don't ever get it that "dlc should be free". Sure an update is ofcourse free, and they are adding the DLC Pokémn as an update as well. But the DLC also has new gameplay content, which actually need to be developed. So you should pay for that.

This really looks fantastic. 30 dollars for two great looking expansions, and people are complaining they should be free? All of this new content looks really great, and will keep me playing this game for a long long time.

I bought the game at launch, and loved the main story and the new Pokemon. But the experience was far too short for the price they charged. Get off your high horse and accept that some people are unhappy with GameFreak for clearly rushing the game, then charging extra for the rest of it. If you like it, great, but don't try to rile up people who are already unhappy. What's the point?

...So people got what they wanted (200 pokémon, and I won't be surprised if that number will increase in future updates), and they can transfer them and trade them to their game without the expansions. Even so, they just direct their complains at something else.

I don´t feel pity for the people that paid 60 for the base game and complained. I mean, they knew what they were doing.
Well, deal with it now. This expansion included to the whole game experience is what you get when you wait. As usual.

Yup entitled whiners, they are fans of a game not the developers, it's GameFreak's franchise and they can do what they want, not saying you guys can't complain, well you would complain anyway so it makes little difference.

Oh and for all those suckers who say it's cheaper than a new game, um not so fast. You could have bought sun and ultra sun for $80, base game plus expansion is $90 and still contains less content than the previous versions. In fact gen 7 was the most devoid of content before gen 8, if you go back farther it's amazing what you can get for less than half the cost of this.

They get you accustomed to crap and then when they sell you something slightly cheaper they get you to praise crap.

@johnvboy I wouldn't "complain anyway" if I feel I got my money's worth. I don't. Simple. People don't whine just because. That's a miserable existence. I'm going to accept that Game Freak clearly aren't interested in my money anymore, and I'll leave the franchise for other games.

@HobbesyallI wouldn't go that far. EA and Activision very frequently and heavily engage in anti-consumer practices.

I think what's happened here is that a smaller development company that was worked predominantly on handheld titles is struggling to adapt to the scale of HD console development, and is beholden to Nintendo and The Pokémon Company incorporated.

@the_beaver Everyone was telling complainers that they weren’t allowed to dislike the game if they hadn’t bought it. So they did, and now those same people are saying that they’re not allowed to dislike the games since they bought them.

You hypocrites! Take the log out of your eye before removing the speck in ours.

I do not remember saying anybody can't hate these games,in fact form the time I have spent in these comment sections, and various other internet forums, it seems to be the complainers getting their knickers in a twist because everybody does not feel the way they do.

@RupeeClock this small handheld company as one of the most recognizable franchises and have now shamelessly proceed to milking it with zero care for deliviring a complete and polished game ! They aren’t yet at the level of the companies I mentioned , you are right, but baby steps, they’re on the right track !

Admittedly I am just having fun too as I have never even played a Pokemon game bar a demo so have no real horse in this race. End of the day millions of people have just been enjoying the games whilst a very small minority, on both sides, are still losing their minds about this nonsense.

FYI if you want to obtain the Pokemon returning in the expansion pass (assuming you're not going to trade for them), you need to pay for Pokemon Home and Pokemon Bank (if you're transferring from a Gen V, VI or VII game) or just Home (if you're transferring from Go or LGPLGE) to even be able to transfer your Pokemon to SwSh.

A DLC (even a paid DLC) that adds extra content is, at least to me, a much better alternative to releasing a full-priced game that is essentially a director's cut, like USUM. $30 sounds steep and I'm not a huge fan of Pokemon doing paid DLCs, but that's half the price of a new Switch game and I can continue from the same save data instead of having to start over just to get to new post game content. I'm excited for it.
And if you don't want to pay for a DLC, you can still transfer the additional Pokemon from your old games via Pokèmon Home or trade with other people, so Gamefreak isn't actually forcing anyone to pay them $30 for extra Pokemon.

Actually not the worst deal. The fact that Sword/Shield should have had a new area, added Pokemon, legendaries (something that was present in ALL old Pokemon post-games) still sticks out to me and makes me think that one of these should have been base game, but ultimately we're paying $30 for what would have been a $60 third version.

You forget these complainers have spent ages getting all worked up over these games, and feel GameFreak is personally trying to upset them, they are so blinded by their hate of these games that no matter what GameFreak now do will be pointless.

@sanderev This expansion pass is essentially postgame content that previous games had in a full $40 package, when SwSh plus the expansion pass costs $90 in total. Obviously, developers should be paid for their work but I'm not sure if the value of SwSh deserves such a massive price increase.

The better product is argument is so lame, no matter what game had come out they would have still complained, so no wonder GameFreak does not even try to cater for these people, as it would be an impossible task.

@SBandyI'm glad you're having fun with it. Still doesn't mean you can't argue about having a better product. Yeah, life might be too short so you should only play the best games available. Many people on this site have played a lot of previous Pokemon games and are unhappy with the direction this series has taken.

I wrote "Pokemon-as-service" in the live chat and somebody replied "that's the stupidest thing I've read all day". I told them not to worry, the day was young yet, and well, here we are.

@ryancraddock I know you're a Pokemon guy and treating the 2 games as one has always been the way, but reading this article knowing there are 2 expansion passes for sale - $30 for Shield, $30 for Sword - for those who already paid $120 for the base games, well it was giving me a headache reading it as one, starting with the "an" in the title.

"Pokémon Sword And Shield are each Getting their own $30 Expansion Pass, And They Look Mighty"

That seems more accurate. Nintneod really should have made 1 pass that worked for each game, like the "3rd game" they talked about in the video. People who paid $120 for 2 basically the same game now need to spend another $60 for 2 expansion passes to play each game. That seems kinda crummy. And not how I read the article.

I'm ok with 2 games, Sword and Shield, being written as one, that's the Pokemon history, but 2 separate $30 expansion passes should be written about separately just so people know. Kinda feels like the article is glossing over that fact, reads like 1 expansion pass for either game, buy once, play with either. That's how I read it anyway.

Edit: To be fair to you, and Nintneod isn't helping themselves with this 2x2 announcement, people in the comments seemed confused by the "$30 each" Nintendo is promoting as they promote 2 expansion components, 1 in spring, 1 in fall. People seem confused if each component is $30 or if not, why are there 2 expansion passes? Announcing 2 components, and 2 separate passes for each game at the same time probably needed more explanation on Nintneod's part.

@SBandy the only reason I cared to a degree(mostly in the pre-laucnh time of swd/shd) is because I really did enjoy pokemon and would love to see truly expand with technology. I still play the older pokemon games, working on completing the dex and doing a lot of the challenges. It's a ton of fun and they were truly were great games.

I don't let it affect me in the sense that yeah I didn't buy the games and I have plenty of things to play. Beyond making pokemon crap now it is a lesson in how the more crap people defend from these corporations the worse they'll get. I won't stop pointing out how the people who are actually harming the game industry are all these people who far from merely accepting something, instead absolutely cheer on and fight for a worse product as most of the people who bought these games are doing. It's not some issue with being upset that people like something I don't, but that they're actively advocating for things to get worse and destroying franchises.

@rjejr Sure, I see what you mean. As Pokémon games are always technically referred to as one I'll keep the headline the same, but I have edited parts of the text to make it more clear that there are two versions of the Expansion Pass. Thanks for bringing it up! 🙂

As a casual fan of the Pokemon franchise on the outside looking in, you sure are a fickle lot. lol

@WreckitRyan Say you have only Pokemon Sword, you only need to buy the Expansion Pass for Pokemon Sword and get Parts 1 and 2 for $30.

I'm not sure where the controversy is here; I always thought that the Pokemon series was about community and collecting and ESPECIALLY trading. Doesn't this paradigm encourage that? Wouldn't you encourage friends to buy the opposite Pass (or just go online in the communities)? What am I missing here?

@rjejr well after pokemon as a service you know lootboxes are coming next. Maybe not this gen but I bet next gen for sure they'll show up. I won't be surprised when they remake gen 4 with lootboxes for all clothing, and also lootbox tickets for special islands that are the only place to capture certain pokemon.

Except the people championing it are as just a minority as the people who are complaining about it.

99% of the games' sales were to people who didn't care either way. Pokemon is a mass market product before it is a super fan product. That was never going to change regardless of all the fights on the internet by the few, the games were always gonna sell like gangbusters. All this means all the petitions and ranting etc were completely pointless to be honest.

It means, as it always has, that Nintendo is really good at getting the hype level up with these Directs and getting the big picture news out, but are very bad at explaining the finer details. Like how much does Home cost that launches next month? Or can we get the new 200 Pokemon in game ourselves w/o the pass, or can we only get them via trade if we don't pay?

In answer to your question - each Pokemon game on the eShop has it's own $30 pass. So if you have 1 game, you buy that expansion. Each $30 pass includes both parts. Which it seems won't be sold separetly. The parts, not the passes, which are sold separately for each game.

Pokemon Sword is the first Pokemon game I have ever bought, and at 41 I did have the thought that maybe my money would have been better spent elsewhere, but as someone who has recently fallen back in love with Nintendo and is now financially better off I bought it and it is semi-boring, but playable. This expansion announced so soon after release kind of makes me feel like a mug for having bought the game and i would have been better buying dragon quest 11 or something. I think its my last Pokemon and I will ensure I trust reviews and user feedback more carefully and not get caught up in the hype.....until next time . I cant even justify it as my son is only 2!

At the end of the day, people have valid reasons for complaining and being upset and disappointed without being called names or shamed for doing so.

I bought Shield. It was fun in a basic Pokémon kind of way. But for a first effort on a home console (at least for a mainline game), it was a bit disappointing. And nothing in the games really justified why so many features from previous game were cut. That includes the Pokémon themselves. GF themselves made statement after statement in regards to this. Only for them to effectively reverse course with this announcement and with no real, transparent explanation why the decision was made in the first place. It's understandable why anyone would be annoyed and suspicious of them at this point.

Just the same, people have a right to enjoy and be satisfied with what the games turned out to be without being called names or shamed for doing so.

At least Home isn't too far off and we have about 5 months for much more info for these expansion packs to be revealed.

"the complainers totally refuse to accept anyone's opinion that differs form theirs"

When? They've reiterated their point of view and argued against yours. I've seen no logical response from you, just accusations of 'whining'. It's like the tautological 'haters gonna hate' nonsense in lieu of an actual argument.

You have described the complaints as entitled. It is not entitled to want express an opinion on a product.

"Now you are being foolish, let's just leave it there."
Says someone with no argument left.

"calling all the genuine mass Pokemon fans suckers, just because they dare to have a different opinion than yours, "

"they are trolls and haters"

The projection and hypocrisy here is astounding, apparently disapprove of ad hominem attacks, until you wish to label those with a different viewpoint to yours whiners, haters, and trolls.

Sorry fella, there is no right to suggest validity to anybody's complaints, it's all just personal opinions at the end of the day, forinstance if many people like this game and have no issues with it, then this too is valid, but only on a personal level.

In all seriousness, all these constant complaining about the games can't be good for your physical or mental health. My best advice for you all is to be mature and move on if you don't like the products. I can't help you if you end up getting a gastric ulcer from all the comments you create.

They try to exactly fix what people complained about. Lack of content, missing Pokemon, "Ultra" edition full price, game issues such as Gigantamax raids, Gigantamax evolutions for Squirtle and Bulbasaur, and so on. This time you dont need to purchase a whole new fullprice game to get new content. Its half priced as a season pass and they actually start to listen to the community.

Yeah, I know. Some might think that they planned this right from the start but how would you know? Maybe they actually do this because of the backlash. Either way it should be a cool thing for fans.

The comments are filled with senseless hating once again. Dont you millenials have something else to do like paying for your newest mobile phone game currency? Im getting tired of this. Is it cool to hate anything nowadays? If you dont like the franchise, move on and play whatever you want...

@SBandy sort of. Was it any more than a minority that complained about the original plans for the xbox one? Or that complained about paid online on pc? Or that complained about multiplayer in mario maker 2? Part of the reason people post about these things is to get enough attention that these corporations are forced to take notice.

I mean in the case of pokemon they're not selling tens of millions of copies to new people every gen so the people buying it have to know how much its gone downhill. It speaks volumes that you're getting less content in a $90 now than you used to get in a $30 game. Yet we have people claiming you're mentally ill for questioning gamefreak.

I suppose if nothing else the long time fans are just desperately clinging to that hope against hope that someone can right the ship.

The complainers always refuse to see why people like these games, and always fail to see they are in the minority for not liking them, at one point before these games were released there was a suggestion by them that everybody felt like they did, when in fact they did not.

My "Leave it there" comment was because you made an unrelated foolish comment.

Haters will always hate, but during the actual direct I thought people would be happy with all the work and effort that was going into this, of course stepping back form an internet minority comment section, most mass market Pokemon fans will be over the moon with this.

@Kalmaro@Yorumi
You two keep complaining about Pokemon Sword / Shield. 🤨
I have finished Pokemon Sword last 1 January 2020 and i have enjoyed the game with just the way it is quality.
I saw some flaws but still tolerable for me.
As long the game is not broken, i'm already content.
I didn't even mind about Dexit.
Luckily, i still able to build my old team with consist the Pokemons i can found them from the Route i have visited.

You two can keep complaining all you can and it just only show how immature two of you.

@rjejr you know it sort of hit me too with you talking about the pass for each version. I have a brother and two sisters. When we were younger we often had our own versions of pokemon games. Given the one save and all. If families do that today they'd have to buy the expansion for each game. I know that's what they're counting on but it really shows how far down the scum hole they've gone.

@Yorumi Except now multiple profiles can use the same copy of the game and have their own save file, unlike before where the game would save directly to the cartridge so each person would need their own copy.

my biggest gripe is that there is a pass for each game, instead of just one pass to cover both. So instead of paying $30 and the pass works for both Sword and Shield, you have to shell out $60. Sadly I'll still probably buy it, but might wait until Fall when both parts are out.

Starting with the pros... I knew this would happen! I knew Game Freak would release new expansion content alongside free updates to keep Sword and Shield alive even more than how it would be (online features always keep Pokémon alive), this also leaves the door open for future possibilities for the rest of the Eight Generation

Leaving hype aside, didn't Sugimori once said that paid DLC would "ruin" the worldview of the franchise?http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/10/pokemon_developers_paid_dlc_could_ruin_the_worldview_of_the_franchiseOf course, this is a bit different since you're not just paying for new Pokémon, but I fell this will divide some people.Speaking about the content, I hope they haven't revealed everything yet, that price looks seems to indicate we are getting a lot. And as if that wasn't enough, even more expansions will come; a case I could relate to Final Fantasy XV.

Also, that Shield legendary Calyrex hints at a Zelda crossover... just kidding lol

@PokeMario
Yeah, that is one of the improvements I've been waiting for 20 years. We never bought two copies of the same game in my family, just shared the adventure with my brothers. I'm glad my nephews can have the option for separate save files in Pokemon now.

@johnvboy I have to admit I wandered in here as a complete outsider. I’ve not bought a Pokémon game since my original Red GB cartridge (which I still have!). But it’s amazing to see where the game is today since then. Post-GO, I’ve observed they’ve gradually shed what modesty they had left and this is in line with that.

Don't buy these ones then, everybody will tell you on here they are complete garbage, of course you may get a different story if you could manage to find and speak to a mass market Pokemon fan, you won't find many one on here though.

I think the complainers love the series, that's why they are so passionate about it, I do understand that they have grown up with it and have played all the previous games, this is the main issue though, the majority of the original fans have just moved on, and there is just not enough of these guys left to cater for, you can't blame GameFreak for appealing to it's mass youunger audience.

No Let's Go Gold and Silver 😭😭😭. Bur rhe expansions look very fun! Called it though 😊. They look like grand expansions and it's very cool that the new area's work like the wild area. This is good news 😊😊😊.

Or the majority of long term fans that still bought the games just weren't that fussed.

I accept there are legitimate complaints and anyone actually celebrating the cuts is a bit wierd as you should always want a product to be as good as it can possibly be, but some of the people complaining went too far or weren't willing to listen to reasons why the cuts were made.

The games are out, probably sold 15 odd million now so it is best for everyone to either continue enjoying the games or move on and keep an eye out to see what happens with the next gen games.

If you or others are taking my comments as insults then that is up to you or them, all I have stated is that people have got to stop the constant whining and moaning as it will get them nowhere, and it's just not good for them.

GameFreak have issued news of a substantial update for the new games, it would have taken a lot of time and effort to produce, and is still currently being worked on, they have introduced, or will be introducing 200 new Pokemon, which will not be locked behind a paywall as some incorrectly posted.

The games are fine and will appeal to the majority of the games buyers, but you will not be able to please everybody, as you can see from this and other numerous comment sections, some comment sections not even about the Pokemon sword and shield game itself.

@johnvboy If you're fine with dismissing valid complaints about how this all went down, it's certainly within your right. But there is no denying that this does not look good for Game Freak, who's message on the game ultimately seemed all over the place to start and then seems to suddenly shift course with this announcement.

I'll acknowledge some of the complaints come from a sense of entitlement. Some have had a tone that completely drowns out the valid complaints. But with Game Freak not doing a great job in making that message clear or not very transparent, it's no wonder why some fans are annoyed and a bit disappointed in how this all went down

They ultimately have the right to make the games they want to and for whom they want. I won't deny that and I don't think anyone does. But at the same time, they have to be ready and willing to accept the criticism that comes along with it. Especially when they are choosing to interact with the audience and include them into these insights.

@SBandyWell, the Direct was pretty specific - by the time the DLCs hit, we'll be able to move past Pokémon to Galar if they're included in the updated Galarian dex even without owning the DLC.Which is already one hell of a lot better than the base product, slowly moving the games towards "worth a purchase" territory.

@johnvboy
Well, to some extent they still are.
If this is not the case, then please feel free to explain the obsessive focus on Kantonian Pokémon.
[EDIT: How can a comment section about something that pleases the games' detractors be testing in any way?]

I mean i get that people are not happy with the decisions GF made and would have liked a better product and of course you should criticise the practices you feel are scummy. But i just feel some people get way to worked up about these things, i mean come on it's video games, if you don't like it don't buy it as simple as that. GF does not owe you a good game and you do not owe them your money, as simple as that.Not saying things like this should not be discussed but if you get frustrated by the actions of a company, just move on and stop buying their things.

You Pokemon fans are too much. Move on to something you actually enjoy if you hate this game so much. And if you WANT to enjoy it but are just feeling pissy and whiny for reasons, then spend the pocket change they're charging for this DLC, shut up and enjoy the additional time you're getting with the brand new installment in one of your favorite series

@SBandy the only actual reason for any of the cuts was pure exploitation and greed. That is the only logical conclusion. Besides the cut pokemon the games have far less content than previous version that had more pokemon, the animations are worse than the GC and wii games that had the same or more pokemon. The graphics are very low compared to any other AAA switch games(botw, odyssey, XC2, etc). Basically there was virtually no effort put into these games despite being the largest media franchise ever, a flagship game guaranteed to sell tens of millions and a 50% price increase. On top of all that they're now selling the cut content back as dlc.

This is not some little nitpick about the game or trying to decide if minor variances in content amount to more or less. The cuts in these games are huge and significant while also being completely unjustifiable. The two sides are not really like and dislike. One side looks at a game that is unquestionably inferior to any previous version by a lot and voices their concerns. The other side is angry that people dared to criticize. All they do is dismiss arguments, not counter them. That's proof enough they have no justification and are just made that other people aren't worshiping gamefreak.

These games are inferior by a lot, if people are buying them it just means they're accepting of garbage and accepting of games getting worse as time goes on.

The title is fine, everybody knows how these games work, but I do think Nintendo made things a bit confusing by having two parts each in what technically are 2 expansions passes, 1 for each game. And they complicated the matter by talking about the "3rd" games in the series, then having 1 expansion pass for each game, rather than just having 1 that owners of either game can purchase. Though it does seem like real Pokemon fans are excited to be able to have a new nemesis in each for $30 each so what do I know?

Just re-read the article and it seemed much smoother, so much so I can't even really tell what you changed, just that it all made sense, so good job whatever you did. Now if you'll excuse me my inbox is full of replies, most of which will be nasty, which reminds me why I comment so rarely these days though I still read almost everything.

I'm more in the "planning this from the start" camp than the "rushed" camp, but I know what you mean. This game was discussed in 2017 for a 2018 release, but it only came out in late 2019 w/ Let's Go Evee in 2018 as a fall back plan, much like Mystery Dungeon is mysteriously announced and releasing in only 2 months, was probably ready for the holiday just in case S&S still weren't ready yet. So they had plenty of time to get the game just like they wanted, with all of the planned DLC and how to sell it. It's the best way to monetize Pokemon in a "games-as-service" world. A world I don't belong in.

@Yorumi Kids gaming is getting expensive. Guess that's why Nintneod put out the cheaper $199 Lite, so parents can buy 1 for each kid, then 1 $60 copy of each game for each kid, then pay for NO w/ an online family pass (which is at least cheaper than individual NO for 2) then pay $30 for each expansion pass, then pay for Home, however much that will be. Pokemon was never the cheapest, having to buy 2 games w/ only 1 save point each, but it's reached peak expensive now.

I guess parents who only needed 1 Lite b/c the other kid is playing on the original really lucked out. My 1 son passed this gen, and on Let's Go, he bought 8GB RAM and got a video card for Christmas instead, so PC gaming ain't cheap either. 3 months of Xbox Gamepass Ultimate for $1 is nice though. They actually each have that, more Xbox on PC gaming than Switch for the next few months.

I actually have no idea what Switch game we're even looking forward to, no interest in Mystery Dungeon or Animal Crossing. Pikmin 4 is day 1, same for Bayonetta 3. Mario Kart 9. Splatoon 3. I think my family needs a Nintneod Direct much more than today's Pokemon Direct.

Still a personal opinion, to some planned DLC and part finished game from the start, or full complete game from the start that lots of people enjoy, and now we are being offered extra optional content to enhance the game.

The update re the 200 extra Pokemon is free for the purchasers of the original game, however this is not being discussed by the complainers on here, as it's does not support their biased narrative of a greedy GameFreak.

@johnvboy I'm suggesting they should've put it in the base game to make it worth $60. Instead, they now want $90 for the same amount and quality of content that was in their $40 games. They ask this because they know that Pokemon is the highest grossing multimedia franchise of all time, and that it has millions of rabid fans who treat TPC like they're a family friend and will defend them to their last breath. The quality has steadily dropped over the last few games, but to ask for $90 to have the right to catch less Pokemon than you could in previous games with a brutally short story and middling graphics is abhorrent.

@NINtendo242 Gen 3 was a gba game and had 386 pokemon for $30. Gen 4 had nearly 500 for $30. Gen 5 was 649 for $30. The 3ds games went up to $40 but had 721 for gen 6 and 809 for gen 7. Content wise, especially when talking about gen 4 and 5 they had many more things to do in the game. Side quests, alternate modes, a proper post game, the battle frontier etc.

@SBandy this is the dismissal i'm talking about. With that dismissal what you're saying is you don't believe people can criticize anything. Incomplete game? Oh well someone had fun with it. Buggy? fun shut up. Exploitive microtransactions? Fun. Lootboxes? Fun. It's a universal shut down all discussion thing. Who cares how scummy and how low quality a product they put out don't say anything about it because someone claimed to have fun with it.

Naturally Pokémon Sword gets the cooler content 😒 But they both look pretty fun. I'll be looking forward to playing through the Isle of Armor. Omg Galarian Slowpoke though 😻 I'm so excited to have Slowpoke back!

Which, as grindy as that game is, at least it was free. I have no problem w/ paying for DLC in free games, (though $5 monthly for Mario Kart Tour is $4 too much) that's why they're free, but $60-to-start is something I've been railing against for years. YEARS.

@johnvboy Do you really want me to go over all the data showing how this game is incomplete?

And how they cut corners?

How they didn't even get the ending credit scene right?

The fact that we are getting more Pokémon is nice but they should have been there from the beginning. Please stop just dismissing the criticisms about this game by just labeling people you don't agree with as "complainers".

Its amazing how most of you are acting like this is something new. Most big gaming companies do this all of the time and yet no one bats an eye. Pokemon does it and they lose their minds. I don't have a problem with paid DLC, and honestly I think the content looks great. Whether or not its worth the price tag is yet to be seen but if it grinds your gears then just don't buy it

@rjejr I actually don't even take a blanket stand against dlc or microtransactions in $60 games. It's all about how it's actually done. Of course more often than not it's done bad but that doesn't change the overall point. I mean this here is just crap yet I spent like $2 to paint my ship in elite dangerous. I'm happy to pay for quality but that's what I want, quality.

I do not know how many times I will have to type this, but here goes, I am not or have never stated that people complaints about these games have no validity, I have simply stated it's their own point of view and not everybody feels the same way,and any validity is personal, I have also never stated that people can't complain, all I have ever done is offer a counter argument with a little humor thrown in for good measure.

@Yorumi Well there are good uses of DLC I suppose. Pikmin 3 had a few cheap challenges, and Mario Kart 8 on Wii U had the $12 season pass. Of course Wii U owners never had the chance to pay for the real battle arenas in the Switch version. I haven't played it yet but people are always saying the $15 pass for the Witcher had 2 extra games each bigger than some other standalone $60 games. But then you get Zelda BotW for $20 which added very little but I paid it to get the green line on the map that was already in the game and should have been free from the start. That green map line is my own personal horse armor.

My biggest gripe, as it seems you're finding out today, is all the people calling me out for not liking it. Is Horizon Zero Dawn a "complete game" without the $15 expansion pass? And if it is a complete game without it then why is it sold as a complete game with it? They can't both be complete games.

So yeah, there's some nice DLC, but I'd personally prefer a return to before DLC times b/c the bad surely outweighs the good. I do think games as service require DLC, like Spaltoon or Fortnite, to keep people coming back for more in online shared games. Minecraft too, it's $30 to start, and it's a never ending sandbox. But did 64 character SSBU for $60 need $25 for 5 more characters?

Well on other franchises the DLC is justified, but as Nintendo games have never really gone down this route in the past, it's more of a tough sell.

So rather than accept the fact that they have had years of not having to pay for extra DLC, that was pretty much the norm on all other games, and be happy about that, they choose to go bonkers because now they are being charged, you know this sounds so much like, whats the word?, ah yes entitled.

@johnvboy And the people who have complaints have never said that it was not our point of view and that everyone shares what we think. You may find one or two exceptions but the complaints I have seen are all valid and documented.

Whenever you just lump in everyone as a complainer you're not differentiating from people making baseless claims and those who actually have taken the time to make valid points. That, is dismissive.

Humor like everything else is subjective, and It was more like sarcasm in many of my posts.

Also validity is also a very tough to argue, just because somebody who does not like these games lists their issues or documents them does not equal validity, as it's only a personal opinion, just the same as the games champions listing the reasons why they like the game, there is no definitive right or wrong, it all depends on your own personal view at the end of the day.

You seem to feel complainer is a negative term, when all I am doing is stating a pure and simple fact that people are complaining about these games, this goes for the casual claimer to people who have as you say, taken time to make points about their issues with the game.

@johnvboy Putting people's personal desires, objections or needs aside, I think you can objectively look at this and acknowledge (regardless on whether you enjoyed the games or not) that the way THIS particular situation has gone down isn't a good look for Game Freak.

Whether you care or not I guess is an entirely other conversation. But in the context of how they handled it from the start and how they explained it to the fans, Game Freak should be taken to task on whether or not they should be taken at the word from here on out.

@johnvboy So you're saying that issues such as animations being ripped from older games, the cursor still showing in the end credits, people freezing when you go up ladders, etc, are just opinions?

If you're talking about people who just said "this game stinks" then yeah, that's an opinion. Stuff discussing how gamefreak acted like they had to remove pokémon to make things better and they didn't, that's a valid point in my book.

Hence, me not appreciating just lumping everyone with complaints in one group.

"I acknowledged there were flaws and people were right not to be happy about them and you are the one being dismissive of others who still enjoy the games and insult them for doing so."

I have said this so many times but they never see it, and always claim it's the defenders who are being dismissive or insulting, but we all know the complainers can dish it out, but do not take kindly to anybody not agreeing with them, or suggesting their views might not reflect the majority of Pokemon fans.

@johnvboy Please show me these defenders who are saying that their views reflect the majority of the people who bought the Pokémon games. I haven't seen anyone saying that but I may just be overlooking them. There's a lot of people posting.

A lot of the initial issues people had were stated before the games were released, and there were issues down to people using illegal rom copies of the game, when the games were released a lot of these issues were simply not there, of course there are technical issues and glitches with most games.

My point about validity was always more about people stating the game was poor, for reasons x,y,z for example, as this is pure opinion and not valid outside somebody's own view.

Animations are a different matter, the animations used on the 3DS versions are already good quality, there are some stating they have proof they are exact copies, to be honest I am not all that bothered if they are similar or the same, I just wanted the Pokemon themselves to have a cleaner look of the cartoons, which they have and are a massive upgrade over the 3DS models.

@johnvboy Not when it is a game marketed towards children with an increasing amount of financial agency over their parents' debit cards. Many parents nowadays are more than happy to let video games raise their children, and allow their children to freely govern anything they buy related to video games. In combination, this marketing practice becomes notably predatory, especially towards children who don't know any better. Admittedly, I can only name this as the case in the United States; I recognize that this is a UK-based website and that the status of Video Game Daycare Culture might be different across the pond.

@johnvboy I agree that anyone saying that the game is bad and then list reasons that are subjective are just spouting opinions, no denying that.

I just think it's unfair to group those people with others who are digging into technical issues and such, on legally purchased copies.

I also don't think anyone is honestly saying that their opinion is the majority opinion. Everyone knew the new games would sell well. If anything, the people who had complaints were dreading that, rather than denying it.

My issue with the animations is that it was hinted that they would be improved and the Pokémon would look just so much better due to the cuts.

Well, the animations aren't improved and all they did to the Pokémon is turn on anti-alaising to make them smoother and update the lighting. That certainly made them look better but it wasn't anything worth cutting Pokémon over.

Did I say that?, all I stated was that because the games sales were good, that this would point to the masses not sharing peoples negative views of these games, this only indicates that might be the case though.

Admittedly I really think it unfair to take it out entirely on GameFreak and The Pokemon Company: six years ago, Nintendo released Fire Emblem Birthright, Fire Emblem Conquest, and Fire Emblem Revelations. While Conquest and Birthright were initially marketed as individual games taking place in the same universe that could be played completely separate of each other, it became clear upon release that both games were just two separate routes of the overarching Fire Emblem Fates, with the Fire Emblem Revelations DLC being a full game that contained the "True End" route. In total, a game initially marketed as $40 turned out to require $80 for the full experience, which is awful, deceptive marketing.

In short: this is not Nintendo's first foul with DLC that should have been part of the game to begin with, separated only for the sake of profits. However, whereas the case of Fire Emblem Fates dealt with lies of omission, the case of Pokemon Sword and Shield seems to deal in outright fabrications of intent. The reason for the disinclusion of these 200+ Pokemon in the base game is now clearly for DLC profits.

For the sake of time I do not have time to sort every complainer into groups, and I am sure you are not going to suggest I myself or anyone else for that matter does so.

As I said there are technical issues, and several reviews that are good do point them out, but I do think there were people on YouTube making things out to be far worse than they actually were to support their own personal agenda, and in the worst cases spread misinformation, when the games were released this was shown to be the case.

@rjejr For offline single player games I think it depends on the game. I think a more arcady game should have more dlc in it. Mario kart for example should have gotten more dlc. When it comes to a game like that there's not really a concept of a complete game and I don't think any of use would complain about a constant addition of new tracks to race on.

On the other hand games that do have a concept of a complete game should have no small dlc and dlc should be more on the concept of a full blown expansion. In that case it's more like a sequel just loaded into the original game.

Overall you're right though it probably would be better without dlc at all. Then they'd be trying to sell you on what's in the game rather than what's to come.

When that's not the case, most of us aren't saying that at all, and you don't have to come up with terms to group people. There's just people who have complaints for valid reasons and those who don't. I think you mentioned earlier that you didn't see many valid reason or something along those lines, which may explain why you're lumping everyone together. I could be mistaken.

Pretty broad on that comment to be honest, I was stating they did not take kindly when people did not agree with them.

As for validity, I stated there is no such thing as validity when it's personal opinions, people are stating their views have validity, when in fact it's still a personal view they themselves share good or bad, I then stated that this did not mean that an individual can't claim validity on a personal level.

Just because you put a negative spin on it does not make it that way, and you totally forget to mention the fact that the 200 extra Pokemon are not locked behind the $30 DLC packs, all older 200 can be caught or found in an update for the existing game.

This looks more like an issue with time ore than anything else, as there was not time to include these Pokemon at launch.

@rjejr at this point anyone defending gamefreak is just pathetic. As you rightly point out it's just all lies built upon more lies. Between this and the home stuff and all it's just become a psychological experiment in seeing just how much crap people will actually take. Given the way people defend it it's basically the twilight zone.

All the talk about EA, heck all the articles on this site about how terrible EA is, and this is what they defend?

You say "whingers will then retreat with the whole tried and tested line, that all the mass market Pokemon buyers are stupid and do not realize they are buying rubbish... "

Which isn't true, no one is saying anyone is stupid for buying the game. With the implication (I'm assuming) that we believe everyone has the same problems we have so anyone buying it is dumb

On comment 99You said:

it seems to be the complainers getting their knickers in a twist because everybody does not feel the way they do.

Maybe you just never noticed it, but you seem to believe that the people who have complaints all think that anyone who doesn't agree with them are dumb and that we are upset that not everyone agrees with us.

Also, I thought the said that the Pokémon would have to be gotten from people who got the expansions. I may have misread.

Well I am flattered you have taken the time to list some of my posts, I assume in some attempt to take away from what I am saying, and from the posts you listed, surely you can't be suggesting that the people with issues with these games, would not like lots of people to agree with them, as this may help them get to their ultimate goal, which is to get GameFreak to listen and make the perfect pokemon game they crave.

@Yorumi You compare eggs with apples. Gen 3 was a sprite based 2D game, which is FAR less work to do. Of course most people who dont know such stuff cant even comprehend this. Also Gamefreak is a rather small studio, for the fact that they have the world most successful franchise that is. Also people need to be paid, a income and win to be generated, the switch cartridges are more expensive and and and. Details like these are mostly overlooked. Also back then, they still released a full price special edition like Emerald, which is now a season pass and less money. I never paid 30 dollars for a game, damn would it be a dream. Was 40 for GB, GBA games and 50 for DS/3DS ones and now 60. 60 was always the price for console/PC games and well, the Switch is seen as such a platform, take it or leave it. I also dont know what bugs you are talking about in modern Pokemon games. Missigno? Stuck clock in 3rd gen? Cloning glitch from 2nd gen?

But whatever man. I waste my time anyway. I didnt even react to most of the bullshit you are sharing with the world and worse even seem to imprint on offspring. Hooray... Society goes downhill but seeing most of the kids I am not surprised at all, especially since most people blame anything but the parenting, which is mostly the issue. Nowadays anything and everything is critized for uhm, whatever reason. Critics are important and make sense but in the past years there are more oft the screaming birds that just plapper what other people say and they dont even exactly know what the actual problem is, which I also notice when viewing your comments. I mean you really try hard to justify it but if you keep comparing apples and eggs, then I guess you should just stop to try at all to justify the mindless hate train.

@johnvboy It was just two posts, I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but yeah, you just seem pretty dismissive overall.

Of course people would like everyone to agree with them, that's not the same as people being mad that they don't have everyone agree with them. I can't speak for everyone but the fact that you aren't agreeing with me doesn't instill some kind of hatred or anger or whatever.

I'm more curious as to how you don't seem to notice what you're saying.

I am aware of what I am saying, it's just tough to remember each and every comment, but I do feel my line has been pretty consistent on the subject, just as the people with issues have raised the same complaints time and time again.

I do feel this is one of my main issues too, it's far easier to find faults with things, and to totally ignore all the hard work that goes in to developing a game, it's clear GameFreak have a lot of love for these titles, but just because they can't include or cater for every whim, they are seen as lazy or money grabbing when they spend extra time adding things to the game, not to mention the stress of getting the original game ready for launch.

@johnvboy " all older 200 can be caught or found in an update for the existing game."

Your going to have to provide me a link for that b/c everything I've seen and read has said they can only be had in a trade if you don't purchase the expansion pass. I don't consider trading with someone the same thing as being caught or found. There's playing the game, then there's trading with someone else.

Maybe I'm negative b/c I understand what's going on?

@Yorumi The psychologists have it wrong, gaming isn't a mental problem, fanboyism is a mental problem. 😉 (that's not meant for you johnboy, you just seem as confused as all the rest)

@johnvboy I think people would stop repeating the same complaints if they felt like they were being heard, not by you, just in general.

Like the article a few days ago that made it sound like all the people who were upset with SwSh because pokémon were cut. There's soooo much more than that though.

I think GameFreak just isn't managing things properly. This expansion we are getting now probably could have been in the base game from the get go. It just wasn't, probably due to running out of time or because they wanted to split it off and charge for it. I believe they said that you'd have to trade to get pokémon you don't have in the base game if you didn't get the expansion.

@NINtendo242 oh spare more the poor little gamefreak doesn't have any money. They have a 33% stake in the worlds largest media franchise ever. Their game is noticeably inferior to every other AAA game on the switch and on any system. Monolith, who can barely expect a million sales has far better graphics, animation, and content deliver.

This whole boohoo gamefreak doesn't have any resources is the dumbest defense anyone has ever come up with. They are not some struggling indie studio they are the most well funded devs on the planet with the most incompetent or lazy developers.

@johnvboy Am I right in summarizing your position like this: The game is selling great, lots of people are enjoying it, and the people who are criticizing it are a small minority and their opinions are no more or less valid than those who have been enjoying it? Regardless, why did it take you more than 70 comments on this article alone to get your point across? You alone account for roughly 25% of the comments here and yet you've said almost nothing worthy of note. Talks much, says little. You're a meta-complainer. Your entire purpose here is to complain and whine about the people complaining and whining rather than engaging with their sometimes valid and sometimes invalid criticisms. Maybe you're the one who needs to calm down with the complaining and move on.

You are right in saying I feel the mass majority of Pokemon fans have no issue with these games, you are also correct that I feel the people with issues are in the minority, you are wrong if you feel that I have stated their complaints are any less valid.

My comments on validity have nothing to do with right or wrong, my point has always been this boils down to personal opinions at the end of the day, and any side stating validity is wrong, unless of course it's from a personal level.

As for my comments, which you have taken the time to count, thank you for that, have mainly been replies to people who have quoted my comments, I think that is how this is meant to work.

As for calming down, I think you could tell quite a few complainers to tone it down a little, there is passion on both sides of the argument, and let's be honest here a lot of peoples issues with these games been discussed in each and every Pokemon thread, so I do confess to being a little jaded by the fact every Pokemon article comments section is nothing but moaning, no matter what GameFreak do or announce.

I am aiming for 100 comments with around 35% of the overall section, so still a little way to go, oh please be sure to tell me when I get to my target, as I won't have time you know typing all these comments that say nothing worthy of note.

In your reply to @kalmaro you said: "the 200 older Pokemon that are getting released will be available for free as part of an update for the original game."

Well, at this point you either are confused or you're trolling.

The 200 Pokemon are NOT part of a free update that will include them in Sword or Shield. The update will allow people who don't buy the season pass to trade for those Pokemon with people who do buy the season pass. From the article.

If you don't want to buy the Expansion Pass, you'll still be able to obtain these new Pokémon thanks to a free update which will be launching alongside the Pass. This update will allow you to trade with a friend who has caught the new Pokémon.

I think you are only reading the first sentence and not the 2nd sentence.

"obtain" <> "catch"

Some people will be more than happy to fill out their Pokedex by trading for 200 Pokemon they can't otherwise find in their copy of the game but you are making it sound like an update will let people find those Pokemon in their base game, and that doesn't seem to be true right now. Maybe they'll change it later, but I don't think so when they can get people to pay $30 to have those 200 Pokemon catchable in their game.

Would be nice if you were right, 200 Pokemon for everyone to catch after the update, but that's not what they said in their official press release:

Each of these updates will enable players who haven’t purchased an Expansion Pass to receive Pokémon that will be added via The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra expansions through means such as trading.

"through means such as trading" doesn't mean only trading, I'm guessing there will be give-aways as well, maybe buy codes for them with Platinum coins in My Nintendo. But all 200 won't be found in the base game without the expansion pass.

@ShadJV It seems that the guy who cannot read properly is you. You CAN have them if you update the game, BUT ONLY if a person who bought the expansion trades with you, if you updated but did not pay MONEYS to your overlords GF, you get squat (well, a crappy Slowpoke, but that's it.)

" Do I need to buy the Expansion Pass to access the 200+ returning Pokémon from past generations?
No. Following a free update that will launch alongside the Expansion Passes, players of vanilla Pokémon Sword or Shield will be able to trade those Pokémon with players who have purchased the expansion and caught them all. Therefore, it will be entirely possible to get your hands on those new Pokémon via trading.

Players without the expansion will also be able to bring Pokémon over from past games using Pokémon Home, the new service launching in February 2020 (as long as those Pokémon feature in Pokémon Sword and Shield or its expansions).

Clarification on the returning 200 Pokemon, I must admit with all the new information that was crammed into the 20 minute direct, even I had to look this up, just to make sure. "

@johnvboy It would be wonderful of they showed up in the main game on their own... But then that would defeat the purpose of pointing out that you can trade for them.

If you can catch them then you would think you can trade them. I'm thinking the situation is like we see it here, you'll either have to pay and transfer from home or pay/have someone else pay for the expansion and trade for them.

Unlrss you feel like sitting and trading for a couple hundred Pokémon, there's no easy way to get them for free that I'm seeing.

I can't recall it exactly, but if the Direct did mention catching them it was probably meant to mean if you buy the expansion pass, not as part of the free update.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's nice of Nintendo to let people trade for Pokemon that aren't in their game, just like it's always been for free w/ Pokemon games, I just don't view trading for Pokemon the same as being able to catch them for myself.

And yeah, they may throw a few in there for free, like they did today w/ Slowpoke, but even if they give 10 out of 200 that's only 5% and you'd still need to trade for the other 95% or buy the expansion pass. That's not exactly the same as a free game update. And I can't say that I blame them, why pay $30 if you can just spend all your time tracking down 200 Pokemon in game for free?

So when EA and Bethesda lock basic features that should've been in a 60 dollar game at release behind a paywall, everyone complains and tells them they're a horrible company who only care about making profits off of loyal fans

But when Game Freak does it it's suddenly treated like they listened to fans and they're such a respectable company??
That's what Twitter has been telling me anyway

This means that them excluding some Pokemon for balancing reasons is another lie that we get to throw out the window too right? Also, I have a problem with the "DLC is cheaper than full second version" thing. They are bringing back half of the missing Pokemon for $30, meaning that there's a good chance that the other half of the missing Pokemon could get $30 DLC as well. That would be $60 for all the potential DLC. No different than getting a full new version other than them drip feeding us content.

Also, they needlessly riled up the fanbase with the whole debacle. They should have just said they were planning to have more content post release and that some more Pokemon could return then. Instead it felt like they were actively going out of their way to say everything in the worst way possible. Shoot, if I remember right didn't the DLC for Smash Bros get announced before the game released? With Sakurai saying they wouldn't start of the DLC fighters until after release? Upfront honesty and nobody got upset about it. If you're gonna do DLC at least be honest about it from the get go.

@ShadJV Good point. If the free update allows trading with people who own the content then one would assume this also likely means they can be transferred through Pokemon Home.

If they do it in that manner then additional pokemon support itself is not hidden behind a pay wall. As you stated it means the DLC is simply the opportunity for encountering them in-game, rather than the ability to have them in the game (which will be coming free) .

Granted the initial 400 dex (and therefore available encounters as is) is rather small compared with something like the Kalos dex, and im not sure how i feel if they introduce entirely 'new pokemon' (iirc extended versions tended to add things like new legendary forms, returning old pokemon mainly). We shall see.

@johnvboy Comment #103 You said you were on "break". Before then as early as comment #27 you were still trying to rile up others. You're still commenting quite a lot. I sure would like to have your break times if you are indeed working

@Kalmaro yes that is technically true but that is how it has always been in order to transfer extra pokemon added later. You needed to for Poke Bank. White 2 and Black 2 were their all games. All required payment.

On the other hand you can still have them traded without paying yourself if a friend helps. Pokebank allowed one account to use different cartridges

Oh my Arceus, they're actually doing it. They are actually putting DLC in a Pokemon game. The cynic in me said they wouldn't do this, that they would just keep making us pay for a new game all over again to profit. But as I was thinking about this Direct I had a niggling feeling that they might do this. That between the fanbase's outrage over Dexit and the general feeling of not enough content and Game Freak likely being forced to rush SwSh out for the holidays that they might buck the trend and turn to DLC so they can work on the game further after launch. And lo and behold, the Sword and Shield Expansion Pass is now a thing.

This is may be simultaneously the best and worst thing to happen to Pokemon this generation. DLC can be easily abused and it's fair to be concerned about whether or not we're just getting what was once a full game's worth of content in the past for even more money. But look at it this way, if they handled this the same way as they did the past, we'd have to pay $60 for Ultra Sword/Ultra Shield or whatever they'd call it and buy the same game all over again with this stuff included. Here, you can just buy the extra content directly for $30 and save $30 for not needing to buy an extra version of the game just to experience the new stuff. So in that respect this is actually a better deal, and I've been banging on the drum for Game Freak to go this route for a while now for this reason. If you're going to complain about the amount of money you're paying for a complete game, you should focus your outrage on the base game not being a complete experience and judge the Expansion Pass on whether or not the added content is actually worth $30, not judge what your full $90 is getting you.

Also, I think this rules out us getting DP remakes or LG Johto or some other new game this year. With Game Freak spread thin as much as they are, I can't imagine them having the resources to give us both this content AND a full new game. For all intents and purposes this probably is our new "game" this year, and they could probably sell it as such with a special edition of SwSh this fall which includes the base game + expansion pass for the holiday season. I was kind of hoping for DP remakes this year, but it just doesn't seem to be in the cards with this announcement so maybe next year.

Man Game Freak, I really want to hate what Pokemon is doing now and move on with all of the lack of content and polish, but you're doing juuuuusst enough to hold my attention.

@Bolt_Strike I don't really buy the idea that it's a better deal. They already raised the price of the base game by 50%. There's no reason they had to release the game at that price. So I think it's fair there to expect a significant increase in content. Problem is the exact opposite happened. But lets just look at the dlc. $30 is basically the price of a full pokemon game. So I think it's fair to ask if it has almost as much content as a pokemon game. I don't see anything to indicate it has as much as X/Y or OR/AS, or even ultra sun/moon.

Another way I look at it is the game plus dlc is $90, more than buying two whole pokemon games before which would have been $80. I'm pretty confident I'm not getting more content than say X plus AS. Sure you can say I'm comparing it to 3ds prices but I think it's perfectly fair to judge by what has come before. You generally don't expect the home console version of a game to be worse than the portable version. Every way you look at it they're asking more money for less content.

@Yorumi You may be right, it's a bit too early to judge. But in terms of what they're actually bringing to the table, we have 2 new Wild Areas, a training facility, an exploration sidequest, 200 extra Pokemon, and a bunch of other little bits and bobs and who knows what else. Depending on the execution, that could be pretty close to a full game's worth of content. Considering it's Game Freak and they've been struggling to provide a sufficient amount of content recently there's a very good chance you could be proven to be correct after all's said and done, I'm just saying that to really judge the value of the DLC, we have to look at the base game as set in stone and judge based on what it actually brings to the table. And by that logic, the alternatives were to leave SwSh as is having it be a barren, lacking experience, or to sell us the same content as another game for $60 which would be even worse. In other words, I'm saying Sword and Shield + DLC for $90 is better than Sword and Shield + Ultra Sword and Ultra Shield for $120. Whether or not the content stacks up to the older generations is a more complicated question because of the differences in technology and price.

@Bolt_Strike I suppose it’s like asking if you want to get shot in the foot or the chest. Option 3 would of course be free updates to try to win back some fans that were upset. Though I havn’t seen all the sales I suspect they don’t care.

Really it’s just sad seeing what things have become. Pokémon should be so much more. That’s not even just wishful thinking, we know what they can do and have done before.

I weirdly think this time DLCs were the better choice, I still didn't bought it fearing for a third version, now I can get it safely, kindaPlus the new wild areas combined are bigger than the original one

@Gr8-1 As far as paid DLC goes, it's certainly on the expensive side of things. $45 Australian when I paid $57 for the base game on launch day. That'd be almost doubling what I paid for the game, for content that should have really been included to begin with.

So, instead of patching the base game to fix the bugs and crappy textures/animations they're doing this? From watching the video it looks like that even the DLC will have version exclusive things AND on top of that, if you own both Sword and Shield you will have to buy the DLC for each, anyway. So you want all the Pokemanz? You best buy both games for £100 AND an expansion pass twice for a total of £154 that has MINOR differences. Cheap. It would be foolish to to do so just for 100%.

@johnvboy, thanks for the link buddy, been a while since I visited that forum. Doesn't seem as active as I remembered, well not for the Nintendo stuff anyway.As for Animal Crossing I can't wait for it to come out, I am so glad they have added paths now. took me ages to design path's on the 3DS. Really can't wait for the game to be honest, it will be another digital game to my collection. I only have 1 physical game at the moment which is Luigi's mansion 3. Think I may need a new SD card soon.

GameFreak have non obligation to inform people of their plans to release DLC, if like Smash bros they decide to do so then it's up to them, and can be a nice surprise for the masses who have no issues and have bought these games.

When you state that GameFreak have riled up the fans, I am assuming you mean the core Pokemon fans, as this on YouTube channel video's the line seems to be the Pokemon games and this latest DLC announcement has divided the fanbase, when in fact it has not.

@johnvboy so I see. You’d swear some people here had a gun pointed to their heads. I have a simple outlook on games. If I like a game series and the latest version looks like a disappointment to me, I just say nah, play something else and wait to see if they get their act together. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Happened with EA Hockey on the MD, first one was great, the sequel felt like wading through treacle. The following version was much better.

Well that happens with a lot of games, and I am pretty sure most Switch owners will have the same view, the issue has always been the core obsessives who do feel that raising problems on each and every thread will somehow make GameFreak change their ways, it of course will not.

I don't care because the games are fine, you could argue that it's up to the people that do not like the game to move on, they have made their points numerous times, I get their point that they care, but it can't be doing them any good keep going over it.

@Yorumi Free updates typically are not this substantial, even for a consumer friendly company like Nintendo, this update was never going to be free. The issues here have more to do with the base game and how they're handling that. You could maybe argue that $30 is too steep, but free was never a realistic possibility for this much content, it's too much work from Game Freak's end and too valuable to the fans for them to just give it away for free. The only thing they'd probably give away for free is something small like new event Pokemon/Max Raid Pokemon, etc. And actually, we are kind of getting more than that for free in the ability to trade/transfer the Pokemon added to the DLC. Your issues have more to do with the base game's (and possibly this DLC if the content proves to not be worth the $30) budget and schedule, they're not putting in the necessary time and resources to make the games worthwhile. The idea of them having a $60 retail console game and then adding new content through $30 DLC isn't inherently a bad thing if they give you $90 worth of content out of the deal, it's the execution of them settling on short development cycles and small development teams that's to blame here.

Really, I'm looking at this situation and I suspect there's some conflict going on in TPC. Again, if they were really cynical they wouldn't even do DLC to begin with and they would just release Ultra Sword/Ultra Shield for $60 this year. The higher ups in TPC are probably the ones pushing for the bad development practices within TPC, and I suspect this is being driven by Creatures especially as they don't really care much about whether or not the main games are actually good because they make most of their money on merchandise, they stand to benefit more from short, cheap, mediocre games more than Nintendo and Game Freak do. I think the reason they're even doing DLC in the first place is a combination of the uproar over Dexit and the general lack of everything in the base game and Game Freak accomplishing much less than usual and probably having leftover ideas after they were forced to rush the game for the holiday season, so they convinced TPC to allow them to keep working on the game after the fact to give us a better package. I can buy that they actually want to please us as much as possible, you can see that through what they're doing here, they're including more content, more Pokemon, more open exploration areas, and selling this all as DLC instead of third versions which are all things that fans have been repeatedly banging on the drum for the last few years.

What I'm saying is that you should focus your complaints on the elements of this situation that are actually to blame. Otherwise, they're just going to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We don't want them to think we'd rather have a $60 third version or for them to leave SwSh as barren and empty as it is, we want them to think that if they're charging us $60 for a game, we want $60 worth of content. We've seen some very encouraging steps forward out of Pokemon in spite of all of the mess this generation, we should want them to keep the good things about this the same and complain about the bad things.

@johnvboyYeah, if you think the game is fine, I don't think there's an issue for you. You could try looking at some older games and what you got for the price and maybe that would change your mind, maybe not.For the longtime fans, the newest games are quite subpar. I don't think the lying or other bad practices would matter, if people were satisfied with the game.While there is still hope, they can't move on. It's a bit early for hope to disappear completely.

i get all that, but as many on here have said they are in the minority, so it will probably not affect the franchise going forward, so why resort to the same old complaints on every single Pokemon related articles comments section?, this latest one should have been about people discussing the new DLC and their hype for it, no wonder they stay away when it ends up like this everytime.

@johnvboy At the end of the day, it just comes down to how passionate people are about the games.

One could make the argument that constantly defending the game does nothing in the long run. I don't think anyone has the illusion that their words will somehow reach gamefreak and cause any changes, good or bad.

Rather, they feel so strongly about Pokémon that they feel compelled to talk about it.

@johnvboy I think that's a reflection of how Gamefreak handled all of this.

I won't go into all the reasons I dislike the game again, that ship has sailed. I will say that if GameFreak admitted from the getgo something like "Yes, not all Pokémon will make it into the base game but expect more content and old Pokémon later as DLC", things would have gone better.

You wouldn't have people tearing the game apart, trying to see what improved after so many Pokémon were removed (not much), which led to a lot of backlash.

They really should have been more transparent. I wouldn't have minded if they just said more Pokémon are coming later, and you'll be able to bring in old ones to the base game through home. Instead, they only mentioned how older Pokémon will come into future games and how they just couldn't fit everyone in.

Well,now we know they can fit everyone if they wanted, they just didn't, and now it feels like a cash grab of sorts.

All in all though, the main reason people complain so much is because they really like the franchise and are just concerned with the direction gamefreak is going. I'm fine with the DLC route myself, it makes a lot of sense. Stinks for people who like physical though.

@Bolt_Strike Well the main reason I mentioned free updates is no so much because I thought it was realistic but more because in a sense anyone who bought the games has already paid for the dlc. By overpaying for a barren game you've sort of preordered more content. Like I say I get it with the sales of these games there was no way they weren't going to milk it.

To the point about TPC though, I still place the blame squarely on gamefreak. Th reason is swd/shd isn't a sudden change, it's the culmination of a pattern. They've been struggling since X/Y(some would argue GSC when Iwata had to save the game) to deliver games up to a proper standard it's just become much more apparent with swd/shd. As far as I know they have a one third stake in pokemon which means they're entitled to one third of it's profits. That's a lot of money doing directly to gamefreak. Beyond pokemon their other games aren't any good either. They didn't have to make town, they could have put that into pokemon, and even then it has performance and quality issues.

They could have hired more people, and worked to fix their problems. They could have put systems in place for rapid development. The biggest contrast is XC2. I didn't particularly like that game for reasons that are irrelevant to this discussion. The thing is they were working on BOTW while developing this game and there's some indication that it was kind of the B team that made the game. Yet the quality compared to pokemon is night and day. They have a huge semi-open world with large proper towns, hundreds of enemies that all need to be modeled and animated and balanced and all. Their games can only count on about a million sales. Meanwhile pokemon is guaranteed sales more than 10 times that and is the biggest franchise in the world but you'd think it was the niche game that doesn't get a lot of sales.

To me that's why I think the heat needs to be kept squarely on gamefreak. I'm sure there's some responsibility held by TPC but gamefreak doesn't need them to fix the problems, if gamefreak wanted to they fix a lot of this internally.

I admire your passion, but I think you need to move on, the franchise is not changing because the masses are happy with it, sure it's not perfect, but it's also not the train wreck that you are personally stating.

But we always know that when people complain about something they are always far more vocal about it, still there are people upset and they can keep bringing it up, it was just that during yesterdays direct I thought people might be a bit happier, but I guess not, shame though as these new areas look cool.

2) The DLC is adding content people would have wanted in the base game, but behind a pay wall (unless you have Pokémon home)

3) Timing.

The last one is the biggest one, because the game just came out and we were told that they couldn't get everything in the base game because they wanted to focus on quality. Well now we are getting DLC that shows they could have put everything in there to begin with and if you don't have sun/moon or a friend getting the expansion, you have to pay extra money to see older Pokémon.

You sound as if the DLC is available right now, all the extra content will not be released until the latter part of the year, so I fail to see how this lot could have been included in the base game, even if I agree with your point that the original game is not big enough, and lacks content.

@johnvboy maybe you should stay out of conversations that don't involve you. You've spent the last 24 hours posting over and over your worship of gamefreak and telling everyone who disagrees not to post. Maybe you don't need to flood the comment sections with spam.

I do not worship them at all, I have said many times the games are not perfect, your endless tirades have been allowed, why not mine?, plus I have not said people can't post, I simply stated it can't be good for them doing it on every single comment section.

Are you in the U.S buddy?, as I am sure you will have tonnes of used copies on E-bay by now, I must admit the Snow area with the house on the mountain is giving me a Twilight Princess vibe, pity it's the second wave of DLC.

@Yorumi Do we know that Game Freak is the one setting the budgets and development cycles for the games? I doubt they are. They seem to want to work at their own pace and it seems like they're answering to TPC (there was an interview where Masuda and Ohmori were nervously looking towards TPC executives in the room). The small development teams you can blame on them because IIRC they like operating like an indie studio, but aside from that, I don't think they're the ones responsible for a lot of these issues.

@Yorumi No actually you should listen to what johnvboy is telling you and keep quiet because it's getting rather tiresome seeing you guys hating on the positivity and hype and shoving the negativity down everyone's throats cause they don't think the same as the rest of the small bunch.
Either go and find a new hobby or shut up and let people enjoy things ...your choice!

@Bolt_Strike well like I say all their games have similar problems. Even the non-Pokémon ones. I don’t want to let TPC off the hook entirely but every bit of logic points to gamefreak. Nintendo owns a stake in it too. They’ll delay any game that needs it and give a proper budget and dev time to monolith to do niche products but are fine with Pokémon being noticeably lower quality? They even sent Iwata to the rescue in gen 2 but not anymore apparently? I just don’t buy it. Although it does beg the question why they don’t put pressure on gamefreak to improve. Something had gone seriously wrong with Pokémon. It stands out in their catalog as a much much lower quality game than anything else they stand buy.

If you look at Nintendo's Switch news page they are highlighting the games good reviews, and the game has a 80% overall rating on Metacritic, so I would argue there is no reason for Nintendo to do as you suggest, as they already have a big enough stake in the Pokemon franchise.

@johnvboy well yeah that’s the problem the Pokémon fan base has accepted low quality subpar products. Of course they won’t do better. Reviewers will sweep the problems under the rug and fans have no standards. Most of the reviews just say it’s Pokémon and ignore everything else.

No one can say it’s at the quality of old Pokémon games, nor can they say it has as much content, nor can they say the graphics are up to the standard of the switch. The price is the highest it’s ever been by a lot. They’ll eviscerate EA or activision for buggy cheap products lacking content but not Nintendo.

So of course they’re not going to try harder. The message was sent loud and clear, the Pokémon fan base does not want quality products.

You can't always ignore good sales and positive reviews just because it does not support your negative view of the game, I guarantee if these games were selling low numbers and the reviews were all very low, you would see this as proof you were tight all along.

@johnvboy popularity doesn't equal quality. The thing with the game is I don't need reviews to tell me the game is low quality(well I mean beyond the need to know what is in the game itself). Is the game up to the same graphical and performance standards as BOTW, XC2, Luigi's Mansion 3, Mario Odyssey, even MK8, Hyrule Warriors, or DQXIS or DQB2? No the graphics are noticeable lower quality and the game performs worse(this is not stylization, this is lower quality graphics and frame rate). I'm perfectly content saying graphics aren't everything but that's not where it ends.

Does it have as much content as previous entries? No. Sun/Moon is debatable but then again people complained heavily about the lack of content there. It's less than X/Y or OR/AS. It's hardly fair to even compare it the DS games considering how packed with content they are. The battle frontier is easiest to see but also things like new routes, legendary hunts, things like the garden, contests, underground etc. Of course the most obvious of all the roughly 400 missing pokemon. Of course you could say you don't personally care about those things but it doesn't change the fact that that content is missing and there is nothing to replace it.

With the dlc if we assume that brings the content in line with X/Y(which was lower than the DS games) that means the game has seen a 125% price increase. That's pretty insane considering the lack of polish. Pointing to reviews or sales doesn't change any of these facts. Fact is it's objectively the lowest quality pokemon game, and I would say lowest quality AAA game on a nintendo system released in a long time. Should we really be happy about that selling?

A lot of reviews like the more streamlined approach, and a lot of core fans have said the series needed a bit of a shake up, GameFreak change things a little and still people complain, the core to be honest does not Know what it wants.

And again you and others stating the game is not good is still your own personal views, for me the graphics suit the franchise and have a great art style, yes there are technical issues, but I still like the look of the game and the Pokemon themselves, as for the reviews I think the game is right at 80% good but not perfect, the sales of the game show that the masses still like these new titles imho.

It does not matter if we are happy or unhappy about this game or anything else selling well, there are lots of things out there that sell well that I myself personally do not like, my like or dislike of this is irrelevant, as it's still a personal view.

Selling lees for more as you put it depends entirely on your point of view, some see the dex cut as a travesty while some see it as making the game far more accessible, which I feel is what GameFreak were trying to do.

My main issue with your and others view of these new games is you only say negative things, even some of the games critics have still stated there are some good things about these new games, I like them but I do accept there are issues, but overall I find the games entertaining, and with this new DLC the missing Pokemon issue will be rectified, and as yet we do not know enough details on how these new Pokemon can be aquired if you do not buy the DLC, for that fact how the new home feature will affect things.

@johnvboy the amount of content in a game doesn't change with someone's point of view. It's an objective measure of what's in the game. That's the thing anyone defending these games always just brushes off all criticism. You're honestly trying to argue 2+2=15. There is objectively less content in these games than any other pokemon game.

Beyond that insanity your argument about accessibility doesn't even make logical sense. The games have always had a regional dex with the rest of the pokemon merely in the code for the purpose of transfers. Are you honestly trying to argue that a game is less accessible if it merely has some pokemon in the code. Wait a minute this dlc is adding pokemon so by your own logic, your own statements, this dlc is bad because it's making the game less accessible.

The arguments in favor of these games are irrational and self defeating. They don't make any sense and contradict themselves. They're made from an emotional standpoint where anything is everything and everything is nothing. It's so irrational you argue that the same thing is both good and bad at the exact same time. Most of the time the arguments made make you wonder if the people making them have ever played a pokemon game. For example the number of people, yourself included it seems, who do not seem to know the regional dex has been a thing since gen 3. What they've actually changed is not cutting pokemon but making the unavailable pokemon not even transferable postgame like they have been. When none of the arguments in favor of these games seem to be rational or come from an informed position there's a problem.

I have no issues with these games and their content, yes I can understand peoples issues with the dex cut, even though personally I have no problem with it.

It seems like there is no way you are going to like these games, which is why I assume you will not be buying them, so as I said you can continue to debate the situation, who knows what GameFreak will do with the next mainline game.